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TOYING AROUND: Emma Frost, Batman, Sin City & More!

The forces of good and evil both earned solid representation from this week’s batch of collectible news. Characters who have traded one side of the coin for the other including Emma Frost got some love, as did more staunch supporters of either bad or good like Batman, Michelangelo and Robocop. Meanwhile, folks like Marv from “Sin City” and Deadpool, who prefer to cross the line as they see fit, also earned a variety of statues and action figures.

X-MEN | Emma Frost might be known as a member of the X-Men these days, but Sideshow Collectibles is going back to her earliest days a leader of the Hellfire Club for their upcoming Premium Format Figure. The 1:4 scale, 20-inch-tall statue comes with two different heads, one featuring longer hair, the other with shoulder-length. The evil Emma ships next August.

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY | After 75 years in existence, Batman’s hit just about every corner of pop culture from serials to cutting edge video games and everything in between. A few years back, gamers got the chance to control the Dark Knight Detective in “Arkham Asylum” which spawned a series of sequels including 2011’s “Batman: Arkham City.” Hot Toys dug the design so much that they made this 1/6th scale figure of the character as seen in the game that comes with many of the game’s accessories.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY | “Guardians of the Galaxy” might have surprised plenty of moviegoers with mostly unknown characters such as Groot, Gamora and Rocket Raccoon, but the comic community has known how rad they are for years. So did Kidrobot as they incorporated Rocket Raccoon into their line of Marvel-based Labbits, vinyl-esque toys that interpret various characters into this common rabbit shape. The Rocket Labbit comes complete with bushy, raccoon-like tail and is available to purchase right now.

DC PLAY ARTS KAI | Square Enix continues to create action figures based on their own interpretations of DC’s huge stable of characters. At Toy Fair the company showed off a variety of upcoming releases, including Hawkman and Darkseid, but now they’ve given more details by way of US partner Sideshow Collectibles. Hawkman boasts an 18-inch wingspan, a variety of weapons and articulation designed for flight-like poses. Meanwhile, the ruler of Apokolips sports an alternate Omega Effect face and interchangeable hands. Both figures stand nearly a foot tall and ship in January.

X-FORCE | Kotobukiya didn’t waste much time between revealing their Marvel Now ARTFX+ Deadpool and showing off the X-Force variant. The new version features the same statue, but with the grey and black costume worn when hanging out with his black ops team pals. This new version is a Diamond Comic Distributors exclusive and hits next March.

TEENAGE MUTAT NINJA TURTLES | With the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles making their triumphant return to the box office last weekend, expect to see even more totally tubular collectibles on the way. Funko continues their line of classically themed TMNT toys with the Pop! Ride Turtle Van. The vehicle comes with an exclusive pizza-holding Michelangelo figure ready to chow down.

SIN CITY | Diamond Select Toys and Toys “R” Us teamed up to show off different shades of Marv and Hardigan from the 2005 Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller “Sin City” film. The TRU-exclusive figures are painted in color instead of the regular line’s black-and-white scheme. They also come with smaller packaging and street bases, but the same points of articulation and accessories.

ROBOCOP | “Robocop 3” might not be the most beloved film in the series, but the jet-pack sported toward the end of the movie was popular enough to garner a fan-requested deluxe action figure from NECA. Shown off at Toy Fair, this figure comes with the pack, a cannon arm and the Cobra Assault Canon from the very first film. The 7-inch-tall figure hits stores later this month.

TRANSFORMERS | Hot Toys is not messing around when it comes to this Optimus Prime figure seen over on Sideshow’s site. Standing nearly 12-inches tall, the G1 Transformer toy features 36 points of articulation, a pair of Starscream’s wings that attach to his back and a variety of weapons and appendages. Optimus’ chest even opens up to reveal the Matrix of Leadership! The legendary Autobot leader ships next July.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY | In their continued effort to incorporate every character from every realm of pop culture ever, Funko announced their first line of Pop! Vinyl toys based on FX’s “American Horror Story.” The September-debuting wave includes Tate Langdon, Rubber Man, Fiona Goode, Cordelia Foxx, Marie Laveau, Myrtle Snow, Misty Day and Papa Legba.

METROID | First 4 Figures continues their line of Metroid Master Arts statues with a piece based on “Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.” The 2004 game found Metroid heroine Samus utilizing the Light Suit to battle the Dark Aether and its forces. The statue recreates said suit in a 20-inch-tall piece that comes in a regular and exclusive version. The latter features its own light source, making it a light-up version of the light suit.

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS | He-Man fans take note, Mattycollector.com is counting down to the final days it will allow people to join in on the Club Eternia subscription service. This is the very last year of the line’s existence, so if you’re looking for some clutch characters like Lizard Man or the club exclusive Oo-Larr figure, be sure to sign up by 11:59 PM PST on August 18.